— — — — — —
In the beginning, Joey's plan for the Charlotte Family had always been divided into multiple phases: Nation-Building, then Army Formation
After establishing their nation, they could take their time to train their army.
However, things were a bit rushed now. The pressure from all sides was immense, and it seemed like they had no choice but to proceed with army training immediately.
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Amande spoke up first, "Big Brother, if we're forming an army, I suggest using the Dark Trade Union as the core and training 50,000 Fishmen and 50,000 Longarm Tribe warriors to form an army of 100,000 soldiers."
It made sense.
There were over a million Fishmen and even more Longarm Tribe members.
They were the best candidates for training.
But Joey shook his head, "No rush! Numbers are important, but we need to select and test them carefully. Remember, the Charlotte Family needs elite soldiers, not cannon fodder."
"Mm!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Joey continued, "At the very least, our army needs to match the level of the Navy's elite forces. We may not reach the level of superpowers' hidden elite squads, but we must meet the standard of the Navy's best troops."
Hearing this, Joey's siblings chuckled.
"Heh, that's so like you, Big Brother," Compote mused. "If we're going to do something, we have to aim for the best."
"Of course!" Joey smiled. "If we're not aiming for the best, then what's the point?"
Katakuri thought for a moment before saying, "Typically, the Navy's elite soldiers are at Bronze Rank 1. The superpowers' elite squads are around Bronze Rank 3."
Bronze Rank 1 already surpassed normal human limits.
Higher than that? That wasn't easy.
The amount of resources required to train such warriors was immense.
This was why most nations couldn't afford to have elite troops like this.
Because they couldn't afford it!
Perospero sighed. "Big Brother, you make it sound so easy! But we don't have enough money! The 36 islands of Totto Land are almost draining all of the God Valley Celestial Dragons' wealth we took!"
"Ugh..."
As the family's treasurer, Perospero was stressed beyond belief.
"And on top of that," he groaned, "60% of the Dark Trade Union's profits are being spent on buying Devil Fruits! We're completely broke!"
"Ughhh..." He sighed again.
Joey, however, looked at him curiously. "Perospero... are you seriously forgetting something? Compote brought back the entire Sky Island. You do remember that Shandora, the City of Gold, is there, right? That alone should have just as much gold as the Celestial Dragons' fortune."
"...Huh?" Perospero froze.
The room fell silent.
And then—
"HAHAHAHA!!"
The siblings burst out laughing.
Perospero, who was always so meticulous with finances, had completely forgotten about the City of Gold!
"Wait... I..."
He opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
Finally, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, Perospero muttered, "Big Brother... I honestly had no idea... Compote never mentioned it!"
Compote immediately raised her hands. "Hey! Don't blame me, Perospero! I didn't say anything, but Big Brother obviously considered our army plans carefully! If we didn't have the funds, he wouldn't have brought it up!"
Amande added, "Yeah, Perospero! That just means you didn't trust Big Brother enough!"
"Mm-hmm!"
Katakuri smiled, and Cracker laughed while crouching on the sofa.
Perospero, deadpan, said, "You four, shut up."
"Ha! He's mad!"
"He's totally mad!"
"Tsk! Look at him!"
Perospero clenched his fists, desperately trying to resist the urge to beat up his siblings.
In the end, he just sighed.
Shaking his head, he gave up.
Joey chuckled. "Alright, alright, let's stop teasing Perospero and get back to the army plan. It's clear that the main forces should be recruited from the Fishmen, Longarm, and Longleg Tribes, since they're the largest non-human races."
"Mm..."
Cracker, deep in thought, suddenly grinned. "Big Brother, what if instead of using our own people, we just buy 500,000 berserker beastmen or a skeleton army from the family system?"
"They're cheap, they're good for cannon fodder, and if I cover them in my Biscuit Armor, we can just overwhelm our enemies with sheer numbers!"
The room went silent.
Everyone seriously considered it.
Berserker beastmen, skeleton soldiers, undead zombies—These were the top three best-selling cannon fodder units in the system.
Cheap. Efficient. Reliable.
Some people had even bought millions of them to conquer entire worlds.
Joey nodded. "Not a bad idea. But cannon fodder is still just cannon fodder. We need an elite force. That's non-negotiable."
Katakuri agreed. "Big Brother's right. Our true enemies will be the strongest warriors across the multiverse. These cannon fodder troops can only do so much."
"Only elite forces truly matter."
Everyone nodded, serious now.
Cannon fodder couldn't replace real elites.
Joey smirked. "Alright, Amande, how many soldiers do we actually need?"
Amande shook her head. "Big Brother, I actually don't think we need to form a traditional army at all. Instead, we should just let Cracker create Biscuit Soldiers and have Mom give them life using her Soul-Soul Fruit."
"...Oh!" Everyone paused.
Joey grinned. "I see... If Cracker mass-produces Biscuit Soldiers and Mom turns them into Homies, we'll basically have an entire army ready to go! But... they wouldn't really be elite troops."
Amande nodded. "That's true. But Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers, combined with Mom's Homie ability, would be strong enough to defend Totto Land and protect the Dark Trade Union."
Joey thought about it.
It made sense.
Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers were already powerful.
If he mass-produced them at Iron Rank 9, they'd be strong enough for basic defense.
Perospero agreed. "Big Brother, this is actually a great plan! Cracker can make tons of Biscuit Soldiers, and even if they get destroyed, it doesn't matter! They're disposable!"
Compote added, "And it barely costs us anything! We can use them as a temporary army while we train real elite troops in the future."
Everyone agreed.
Except for Cracker.
Cracker, looking horrified, muttered, "...You guys aren't seriously making me do this, right?"
Joey smiled warmly. "Cracker, how many Biscuit Soldiers can you make per day?"
Cracker hesitated. "Uh... about 10,000 per day if I go all out."
"Great!" Joey grinned. "Then starting tomorrow, make 10,000 per day until we reach 3.6 million. Each island will get 100,000 Biscuit Soldiers."
Cracker turned pale.
"BIG BROTHER, HAVE MERCY! THAT'S 3.6 MILLION! PLUS THE ONES PROTECTING THE DARK TRADE UNION, IT'S ALMOST 4 MILLION! JUST KILL ME NOW!"
Joey smirked. "If you do it, I'll double your afternoon tea snacks. And they'll all be made by Momo. Also, you will have a vacation."
Cracker instantly sat up.
"DEAL! NO PROBLEM! I'LL START RIGHT AWAY! WHO KNOWS, I MIGHT EVEN AWAKEN MY DEVIL FRUIT!"
Everyone laughed.
Yep. Sweets were truly the heart of the Charlotte Family.
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